Take Some Things off The Table

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Rod's World

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included. This is my core goal, to have this be the paradigm for the world. My core desired feelings are Love, Peace, Bliss H.O.P.E. – Helping Other People Evolve and Abundance. I need to bring all these into play to achieve such an awesome goal. I had two others, To let my soulmate find me and to be a Kundalini Dance Teacher for Elders that have sort of fallen by the way in 2014 so will reassess them next year.

Often we take on far to many goals for the year and set ourselves up for failure in at least a few of them. People have made an industry out of helping people achieve their New Year Promises made on a dash and a prayer at one or another NYE celebration, a lot of them based on wouldn’t life be better if ……, sort of like your personal wish list.

Usually they are the biggies that have been following us around for a lot of our life, weight issues, money issues, relationship issues, you name it they could be on that list. A much more useful practice would be to say Not yet or even, gasp ditch these things that having been hanging around our necks for time immemorial. How do we do such a revolutionary thing when we have been trying our whole lives with little apparent success.

I have put together a list of suggestions and practices that have worked for me over the journey.

1. Your Life is your message to the World, Make sure it is Inspiring.

You have 86,400 seconds in each day, in fact each human has the same exact amount of them a day. You have the opportunity to have the same effect as Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, The Dalai Lama, Oprah Winfrey on the planet. Use them as powerfully as you can, its in what you give not how much you make.

2. None of us can change our Yesterdays, but all of Us can Change our Tomorrows.

The one thing you are guaranteed in life is change, the more we resist it the more painful the trip is. If you want something in your life, unstick the glue that you have formed your identity with, begin with being real about where you are at this moment.

3. It takes only one Person to change your world – You.

I spent years working in Government service because I had an attachment to feeling safe financially. My heart was speaking to me the last five years to get out and fly but I did not listen ending up with severe mental health issues. Since having my career curtailed I have discovered my passion https://www.facebook.com/groups/Interulturalism/ but I had to travel quite a journey to get there. I am so glad I did.

4. You must make a Choice to take a chance or your life will never Change.

Each and every moment of the day we make instant choices, to brush our teeth, to go to work, to eat a meal. We also have the choice to take a real chance that will make a difference in the direction we are heading. These choices are also instant, just that there is a whole lot of dross in our head that tells us why we can’t, don’t listen to it.

5. The Ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do.

Who do you spend you time with, I spend my time more and more with people who have these ideas that take other people getting on board to help better the planet. From Little things Big things grow and I’ve got a biggie.

6. There are no Mistakes.

Making the social media airwaves at the moment is this inspiring 2 minute something video by Oprah Winfrey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ3ucnkDOiY pointing to the fact there are no such things as mistakes in our lives only opportunities. Where we live , what we do, who we hang around with, we chose that.

7. I’ve been embraced by a new community, thats what happens when you’re finally honest about who you are, you find others like you.

Spend time finding out who you are at your heart space, when this emanates from you, then they will come. I met two of the people that inspire me in a Raw food shop.

8. Lifes most persistent and urgent question is – What are you doing for others.

Who do you include in your dreams, if your dream is to own a Ferrari or ten houses then when you get them there will still be that missing factor, How have you improved the lot of others, Focussing on yourself in your actions is the booby prize. You can go internal to resolve your issues but it is in what you provide for others the juice lies.

So these are a few of my practices and suggestions. Get Up, Stand Up for your Rights, its up to Us, Because we Can, its our Time.

Namaste until next time, my friends

Small Changes, Big Results

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Rod's World

These are the beginning of 300 foot trees if they survive their journey. This is the same for human beings, we are destined to be the leaders of the world if we fulfil our dreams or failed seedling if we do not. As seedlings/children we imagine amazing futures for ourselves and our friends, real or imagined. Then comes something called the education system that is more and more becoming about normalising children, packing them into little boxes so they all come out the same prepared for their careers in our economic world.

Would we have lost the space program if all the astronauts of the world have stuck to their childhood declaration and sought to walk on the Moon or Mars for that matter. Would we have the politicians we have today if all the 4 year old presidents and prime ministers who wanted to make a difference to their friends and family had followed their dreams and transformed their communities.

Ritu Ghatourey,a writer from India said – Your life is made up of little moments, little efforts, little changes, big smiles, and all your hopes and dreams. Don’t think any problem in your life is any different. Don’t accept defeat. You were built to triumph through. I admit there are times where I have not lived up to these ideals.

Here are 7 things that can keep you on the straight and narrow when you feel that the results you desire are slipping away from you.

1. You are exactly where you need to be.

All those thoughts that keep saying I’m not going to make it , I have failed are not correct, you are where you need to be right now on your life journey, you cannot be anywhere else as a matter of fact.

2. Trust yourself Vs. the Doubting monster.

Love and Respect for all, Everyone included. If you go through life with this koan there will be no room to doubt what you are doing will succeed because you will have the majority of people onside. People who exude love have to push away people who are willing to support them because there are so many of them lined up.

3. Give up resisting what life does every moment of the day , Change!

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

4. Never stop learning.

There is a quote that goes “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning today is young. The greatest thing on the world today is to keep your mind young. I would add your heart and soul to this as well, the access to the knowledge of the elders is growing and refreshening our heart soul and mind is essential to keep our dreams and projects alive.

5.Develop a Gratitude practice.

We can be grateful for what we have in our lives, or complain and judge them, here are some reasons that being grateful works and makes us an all round better person.

Feeling more connected (less lonely)
Strengthened immune system
Improved emotional equilibrium
Better sleep
Increased energy
More confidence in ourselves
Deeper relaxation
Appear more attractive to others
Increased creativity
Easier bounce back from difficulty

I sure would like some of these!! Gratitude journal and the writing of Thank you notes are great practices to help manifest this.

6. Sun Gazing.

The practice of sungazing closely resembles its name. At sunrise and/or sunset, when the sun is closest to the earth, sungazers stand barefoot on the earth and look directly at the sun for 10 seconds. Every day, 10 seconds are added and some sungazers eventually reach a duration of 44 minutes. This is meant to increase your melatonin and serotonin levels, our feel good hormones which also increase our overall energy.

7. Care with no Reason, Love with no Expectation.

Life rarely turns out exactly the way you want it to, but you still have an opportunity to make it great. You have to do what you can, with what you have, exactly where you are. It wont always be easy, but it will be worth it in the end. Remember that there is no perfect life, just perfect moments. And its these moments you must cherish; its these moments that make the whole journey worthwhile.

Another Ritu Ghatourey quote to end on, no attachments make it easier to walk your path and have more and more great moments in your life, projects , relationship, pretty well all areas in your life.

Namaste until next time, my friends.

Give with All of Your Heart.

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Rod's World

I chose to write on this because I recently watched the inspiring Youtube about Narayanan Krishnan, chef turned social worker who gave up feeding the wealthy in his home city to feed the poor and the homeless, he stated that it wasn’t just about the food it had to also come with love for it to have any effect.

They say the heart is home to our soul and the mind is its advisor, more often than not when we follow our heart it turns out for the better versus the supposedly logical or illogical ideas the minds seems to offer up. The heart is the core of our joy, creativity and loving, It is when the heart is touched by a mighty passion that we perform at our best because nothing can stop us from achieving that which we intend to have happen as did the Incans when they built Macchu Picchu so many years ago.

Love is not discussed in the business world as it is deemed to be about making a profit over emotions such as love. Yet What is Love was the most searched question on Google in 2012. The ancient Greeks decided it was too complex to have one type of love and therefore they had six different words for six different types of love. The two most common are agape, love for everyone and pragma, the deep love that develops between couples over time. People do not tend to remember how much they earned over a lifetime but whose hearts they touched and who touched theirs.

A great exercise to strengthen your heart is to for the next 24 hours notice negative emotions when they happen. Behind each negative emotion there tends to be a negative thought. Notice what you are thinking and turn it around, flip it into something more positive. If you hold that negative thought for more than thirty seconds, start your twenty four hours again. This trains you in focusing on your positives, what you do brilliantly and what you wish to do better not what you did wrong.

What is Love to you? To me it often the simple things, the lick of a family pet, the laugh of my elderly mum, the passion I have for Interculturalism https://www.facebook.com/groups/Interulturalism/, my favourite music, the music of the indigenous people of my country, but is also the complex things such as the work of Medecins Sans Frontieres, doctors who work in the most dangerous places in the world to provide medical aid to the victims of war, plague and other disasters providing love to these people which would otherwise be unavailable.

If you are living the life you love you may have worked through these six questions:

What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

We all had dreams as children as to what we would do and be when we grew up, they were often crushed out of us as impractical and not a way to make a real living. So if you have been given the chance again to relive those dreams what have you chosen.

Is this an action that you would defend and be happy to explain to your parents?

Our major relationships are often with our parents and siblings, they know us the best as they have spent the most time with us. Can you tell your parents with passion what you are up to and have them get it.

Is it making the world a better place?

Self love is important but is what you are spending your time on improving the situation for others, giving them a heart felt service, lifting them up from the place they have fallen down to. This is an important question to have answered to be in love with your life.

When you think about it calmly. Does it feel like the right thing to do?

A lot of people meditate, when you meditate on what you are doing to fulfil your life, does it feel AOK, I should be doing this over anything else, simply the right thing to do.

Does it make you a better person?

If you are operating from your heart space, are you being a better person because of this or are you still the same self centred individual, one would hope not as you have spent the time and effort to investigate what it is that inspires you on a day to day basis.

Will someone else’s life be enriched as a result?

As I mentioned previously you do not remember how much money you have earned when you reflect on your life but who you have touched and who has touched you. As you fulfil your passion remember it is in the giving of your openheartedness that touches and enriches others lives. The focus in fulfilling your passion should be out there, the love of self is the internal quest.

If you give with all your heart I believe you will never work another day in your life, as you will love what you do and you will be living a life of passion.

Namaste until next time, my friends.

Terra Nullius, the theft of a land

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Rod's World

I live in a land that has been populated for close to 60,000 years. Recently the Prime Minister of our country denied this https://newmatilda.com/2014/11/14/tony-abbott-says-nothing-bush-australia-white-settlement, an act he continues to do even though he is the self appointed representative of the people who have inhabited the land for this time. Our Country, Australia is the only western country that does not recognise the indigenous native in their Constitution, in fact the words “other than the aboriginal race” were contained in up to 1967 when 94% of the population voted to have it removed in a referendum. I am ashamed that prior to this under the White Australia Policy of the government our Indigenous brothers and sisters, The First Australians had been considered less than human.

Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning “land belonging to no one”, which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished sovereignty.

We are showing the inspirational SBS series The First Australians at the place that I work at Darebin Intercultural Centrehttps://www.facebook.com/DarebinInterculturalCentre?ref=hl ,a series created by First Australians to belie some of the myths that have been put across as the history of our land http://www.sbs.com.au/firstaustralians/. Facts I have learnt from this series are that there were over 250 Tribal groups populating the country when whites first arrived and that genocidal actions were taken against them to steal their land such as the 5 pound bounty put on an aboriginal in Tasmania and the hiring of professional hunters to complete the task by the government of the day.

This made me think that families who first settled the land in the early days probably saw or took part in some horrendous actions to claim their lands if they were all populated by an aboriginal tribe. I grew up in the bush so somewhere in our distant past who knows what occurred.

On the night of the 12 February 1965, 30 university students from Sydney boarded a bus and set off to campaign in the country towns of New South Wales. Officially called Student Action for Aborigines, they were led by Charles Perkins, a young man who would become one of the most important Australian Aboriginal activists, as well as a leader in the Aboriginal community through his work as a politician and bureaucrat, as well as through his sporting achievements as a soccer player, coach and administrator.http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-56_u-490_t-1335_c-5130/tas/sose-history/australia-after-1945/an-era-of-protest/charles-perkins-freedom-rides

Charles Perkins and his ilk were willing to fight for the rights of Indigenous people and their actions led to the referendum of 1967 and allowed people like Vincent Lingiari to lead his fellow stockman and families off the Wave Hill cattle station where their civil rights had been being abused by the Vestey family, a wealthy British family who had run the station since the 1880’s. In 1975 the land was handed back to the Gurindji people by then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam , the first such case and the beginning of the land rights movement in Australia.

Finally, to give back to you formally in Aboriginal and Australian law ownership of this land of your fathers. Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof, in Australian law, that these lands belong to the Gurindji people and I put into your hands this piece of the earth itself as a sign that we restore them to you and your children forever.—Gough Whitlam, August 16th 1975 [4]

This opened up actions to be taken by several governments to either crush or support land rights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_title_in_Australia , the most famous case being Mabo vs. Queensland over the period of 1988 to 1992. Eddie Mabo took the government to task about the right his Murri people had re owner ship of Mer, his home island. Unfortunately Eddie became ill and died several months before the victorious decision was handed down http://www.abc.net.au/tv/mabo/biography/eddie-mabo.htm.

So why will the government of a supposedly civilised land not recognise the first 40,000 years of their lands history in their constitution? If you look at these statistics it could be assumed that the will of the people is not there and the government are listening to the unspoken racism that exists in our country http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/people/racism-in-aboriginal-australia#toc6

Terra Nullius is an abomination and belittles the people of our great country and we should be taking all steps we can to have it reversed and call out to our elected head of government to stop making statements that suggest he supports its existence. The fight for land rights has also risen again as the premier of Western Australia intends to close 150 settlements http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-12/indigenous-communities-closures-will-have-severe-consequences/5886840. I believe we are better as a nation in recognising our indigenous brothers and sisters, the First Australians than some of the actions occurring seemingly in the name of the money barons who wish to mine without having to ask anyone. Say no to Terra Nullius and the fold back of land rights.

Namaste until we meet again my friends.

Don’t compromise their dignity!!

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Rod's World

Human beings enter the world all newborn, another soul waiting to thrive. The path they take is often chosen by the circumstance they are born in, yet there are exceptions to this rule in each and every land, what separates these individuals from the rest. You often find these people have the guiding light of service for others. This quote sums it up pretty well:

Self love is the inner path but the creation of a dignified person is in how we interact with the world. Can you relate to the homeless person as well as the multi billionaire. Each of these people may be parents, brothers, sisters who have had passions in their lives, they are just demonstrating them in different ways at this point in time. I work at the Darebin Intercultural Centre where our ethos is Love and Respect for All, Everyone included. We had a homeless person who used to sit on our garden out the front. We started taking him a cup of coffee and he now comes to our events because he feels at home and that people respect him there.

The world throws up extreme circumstances to test people’s dignity, Nelson Mandela is famous for retaining his dignity while in prison, he stated that his freedom could not be taken away from him as long as he retained his dignity, he did not surrender it and went on to become one of the worlds great princes of peace and freedom on the planet. The country of Rwanda went through a near genocide in 1994 and the country has set up leadership trainings to restore the dignity of the country http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/about/bgjustice.shtml

What do you take dignity to mean, there is a definition that is widely used.

Proclamations and conventions

Through much of the 20th century, dignity appeared in assorted writings as a reason for peacemaking and for promoting human rights.

“

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status

The declaration being the universal declaration of human rights:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot, Paris. The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. The full text is published by the United Nations on its website.^[1]

The Declaration consists of thirty articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions, and other laws. The International Bill of Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols. In 1966, the General Assembly adopted the two detailed Covenants, which complete the International Bill of Human Rights. In 1976, after the Covenants had been ratified by a sufficient number of individual nations, the Bill took on the force of international law.^[2]

This is a difficult promise to live up to given the human condition, judgement, indifference, apathy, and selfishness often see it swept aside for the need for self gratification. Working on the inner path of self love places these things clearly in the background and allows for treatment of self and fellow human beings with dignity and respect on a daily basis.

The ethos of Interculturalism, Love and Respect for all, Everyone Included, join in spreading the word https://www.facebook.com/groups/Interulturalism/ and we will see a planet where dignity is one of the premises that people live by.

Namaste to all until next time my friends

Everyone’s Right of Place.

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Rod's World

Do you ever feel out of place? There is a fabulous quote that says we are all geniuses within but try to get a fish to climb a tree and it doesn’t get very far. Its points at that age old wisdom that one has to find our passion in life to truly discover the genius within. Albert Einstein liked lists as I do so I would like to feature one of his to back up that everyone has a right of place and what we can do to find ours.

1. Follow Your Curiosity.

The world has billions of things to learn, from different cultures to new scientific discoveries. As we grow older we are trained to settle down, fight this with every muscle in your mind, body and heart.

2. Perseverance is Priceless.

I posted a quote about that every one has the same 24 hours as Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela etc. etc. It drove my brother to distraction. Things get done by people who see roadblocks as opportunities not reasons to stop.

3. Focus on the Present.

Eckhart Tolle is visiting my city, Melbourne Australia on Tuesday. His book The Power of Now says it all about the power contained with in this statement. You can’t do anything about the past, The future is yet to happen and will be a past moment of the time that make a difference, the present is the instant in which it occurs.

4. The Imagination is Powerful.

I love the joy of children playing together, they don’t need computer games and video’s, all they need is their pure, uninhibited imaginations. They can create dragons, imaginary super heroes and countries. Education systems seem to try and crush this out of them as they grow up and become more “mature”, perhaps it should be called the clone system.

5. Make Mistakes

It is said Edison broke thousands of lightbulbs on his journey to discover the one that worked. Don’t wait to have everything perfect before you have a red hot go, you will not start. Mistakes can also be called new opportunities to expand.

6. Live In the Moment.

86,400 seconds in a day. We sleep a lot of them so that we can be alert in the others we are awake. If you are in a funk about something somebody did to you 10 years ago who is missing the opportunity to be the best you can possibly be in the moment. Answers itself. I used to do this but took action about it as I sensed it was costing me my vitality day to day.

7. Create Value.

I have lots of friends who are in the healing profession and face the dilemma of how to charge appropriately for their services. The price of what I am willing to pay for an item or service to me is determined by the answer to the question did I get value being Yes. So this is one time you do not look inwardly for the answer but focus on your audience, did they get value.

8. Don’t Expect Different Results.

How often do you think If Only? This is the booby prize in your life education. What happens happens for a purpose, it may not be nice but our job is to not repeat the dose and grow from the experience. Yes we will go through grief, anger, frustration but the premise is to get the coaching, It couldn’t have happened any other way than how it did.

9. Knowledge Comes From Experience.

As we age we have the opportunity to gain Knowledge. This is different from existing and repeating the same things over and over again. We experience an event in our lives and some times we get an aha moment from it and our knowledge grows which we can pass on t those following in our path. Aboriginal elders in Australia live by this premise “In our culture, decisions are made for the communal good and the community is considered above the individual need.”

10. Learn the Rules and Then Play Better.

Each of our Societies are governed by a set of rules for each area of its existence. If we want to make great change its our job to know these rules and manipulate them and play the game better than the mediocre players such as many of the political parties that exist as our “rulers” these days.

We all have a right of place and it is our responsibility to discover what that purpose is for each of us individually. Albert has written a very powerful list that can help you access this for yourself. get out on the track and place one foot in front of each other and begin.

Namaste until next time , my friends.

May the Animals be Blessed.

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Rod's World

Today I remember the animals of the world, our cohabitants of this precious planet. I recognise their vulnerability, as well as the harm we sometimes do to them. May careless, even cruel behaviour towards animals be forever removed from the earth. May my heart be open to ways I can be of service to them. May the relationship between humans and animals be lifted to its highest place. Dear Gaia, Please bless the animals. Protect Them From the actions of those with cold hearts. May we be proper stewards Of these precious creations in our midst. Amen. I love this prayer by Marianne Williamson to the other inhabitants of our planet although I changed one word, I cannot bring myself to use the word God, it is far to damaged in my estimation to be used to represent the spirit that is mightier than the human race, I much prefer Gaia, the spirit of the planet that does not relate to any power seeking religion. I spent last weekend volunteering at World Vegan Day in Melbourne Australia, my friends call me the worlds greatest volunteer. I was highly impressed by the number of young people who have journeyed down the path to Veganism. What is Veganism, Wikipedia defines it as follows

Veganism /ˈviːɡənɪzəm/ is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, as well as following an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of sentient animals. A follower of veganism is known as a vegan.

I used a picture of Beagles to begin this blog as there is a group in Victoria that specifically operates to rescue them from abandonment or cruelty http://www.beaglerescuevic.org/aboutus.html, and they are damn cute.

There were many other organisations that defended the rights of animals around the world and I was drawn to the Tiger Protection booth and was amazed to find out that there are only 3,200 tigers in the wild, as articles say it is ironical it is the Chinese Year of the tiger when mankind is rapidly removing this noble creature from the planet. The link to this article does not hold out much hope for them in 12 years when the next Year of the Tiger rolls around. http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/all-worlds-tigers-extinct-in-15-20-years-without-better-conservation-efforts.html.

I chose to become Vegan due to the fact I did not want the energy of a living creature in my body not due to animal cruelty but the talk I heard by Philip Wollen pointed to why we need to give up eating meat and fish, we are literally killing the planet for the sake of our daily steak. Philip is a philanthropist who used to be head of Citibank in Australia and who had a turn around in his life and now funds project worldwide to prevent animal cruelty and extinction. He has the ability to speak to people who can make a difference in a huge way. here is a link to a blog with one of his speeches http://livelearnloveeat.com/2012/12/16/philip-wollen-animals-should-be-off-the-menu/. He also funds Kindness House in Victoria where he allows groups dedicated to animals such as Vegetarian Victoria space for minimal rent so they can do their work to defend our fellow creatures.

It takes 25 times as much energy to produce one kilogram of beef as it does a kilogram of vegetables. If the developing nations keep changing their dietary habits to be carnivores we will need two planets at least to produce the energy required, we don’t have two planets, we have a profoundly wounded one. The children born today will not have fish to eat in the year 2050 according to an influential report released by scientists in the U.K. recently, this is sad but not as sad as the effect this will have on the oceans as fish are the life blood of the oceans. A friend of mine who is a solo ocean crossing sailor said the things he noticed in two journeys ten years apart was the silence of the seas, no fish no birds, he was profoundly worried for the future of our oceans and was speaking from experience.

There are people worldwide who do not mistreat animals, heres a list of some of them http://list25.com/25-animal-saviors-who-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity/ So are Vegans and vegetarians the saviours of the planet in the future, they are a growing number worldwide as the benefits of a meat free diets become apparent and it is recommended by more and more health professionals to battle the ever increasing battle with obesity and diabetes that has become an epidemic worldwide, here are some stats on vegetarians and vegans worldwide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_by_country.

Namaste until next time my friends

Who seeks Asylum?

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Rod's World

I work at the Darebin Intercultural Centre in Preston where we have an Asylum Seeker Lounge which actually means I get to interact with actual Asylum Seekers.

Seeking international protection

The term asylum-seeker is often confused with the term refugee. An asylum-seeker is someone who says he or she is a refugee and seeks international protection from persecution or serious harm in their home country. Every refugee is initially an asylum-seeker, but not every asylum-seeker will ultimately be recognized as a refugee. While they are waiting for their claim to be accepted or rejected, they are called asylum-seekers. The term asylum-seeker contains no presumption either way – it simply describes the fact that someone has lodged the claim for asylum. National asylum systems are there to decide which asylum-seeker actually qualifies for international protection. Those judged through proper procedures not to be refugees, nor to be in need of any other form of international protection, can be sent back to their home countries.

I always ask people who agree with the policy that there are no such thing as asylum seekers who need to catch boats and not wait on the list that never decrease for organisations such as the UNCHR have they ever met an asylum seeker and listened to their stories. There is a great project in Melbourne Australia that tells these stories http://opencity.org.au/ – they cannot use there real names for fear of reprise to their families in their home countries and unfortunately in our country from over zealous government officials but I know several of the people in this projects and having read them it changed my ideas of what and why these people take the dramatic action of boarding a rickety boat that may end up at the bottom of an ocean.

Sara who I know has lost her family because of the repressive laws regarding women in her home country. Highly educated and a translator of books Sara decided to leave after the last books she translated was not allowed to be published because it broke Islamic Law. religion raising its head once again. Women do not have the right to seek leaving their country where Sara was from , so she flew out with the intention of not returning and seeking asylum in a country where women had rights and chose Australia. Sara spent 9 days on a boat after paying $5,000 to a boat smuggler and lost contact with the person who traveled with her from her home country. Because one has money does not mean you are an Asylum seeker, money is not the answer to living a meaningful life.

Mustafa was raped by the Taliban at the age of ten years old for a three month period and has been in Australia and on the same visa for the past five years. He has 8 dollars a fortnight left over after paying his rent which he buys a packet of biscuits and a bottle of drink and recently had to leave his shared accommodation and has been going through the trauma of finding new accommodation on a severely low income.

I recently found a Pledge to Asylum Seekers written by L. Clancy and L. Mariah for Bendigo for Refugees, http://www.pledgetoasylumseekers.org/

Our Pledge to Asylum Seekers

Welcome!

This site is for sharing the Pledge to Asylum Seekers, written by two Australian writers who wanted to create something that would generate empathy, humanity and hope.

We wrote the Pledge to bring some perspective to an issue that has become lost in politics. We hope that it will move people’s hearts, demonstrate the depth of compassion felt by both individuals and groups, and inspire further action.

The Pledge is as follows

To those who come from desperation and despair,

To those who have endured violence and unrest.

To those who have no place of safety,

Who come to our shores seeking sanctuary:

You are Welcome here.

We pledge to the mothers and to the fathers,

We pledge to the children and pregnant women,

We pledge to those tortured, broken and dispossessed,

We will acknowledge you with kindness and compassion:

You are Welcome here.

We pledge as part of the human family:

We pledge as members of a global community:

We pledge as people who have sought and found

A peace and safety such as you seek,

You are welcome here.

As the children and grandchildren of displaced persons,

We will not shirk our responsibilities.

We will Not stand by while your cjhildren are hidden offshore.

We will insist on change to the current system.

You are welcome here.

If you dream of your children living in safety,

Of sharing the hard works and the rewards:

If you long to contribute to a caring and just society

And subscribe to a ‘fair go for all’,

You are welcome here.

Bring respect fellowship and goodwill.

Bring your heart, your courage and your aspirations.

We are fair honest, open-minded and generous,

We greet you in friendship

And you are welcome here.

Signed ___________________

This is for the humans to sign, people who recognize that do not belong to teams, but one human race. Go to the webpage print a copy out sign it and get your organisations and friends and family to sign it and return the humanity to a situation that seems to have lost it at the moment.

Namaste until next time my friend

Its like swimming back to the sinking ship because its Too Cold

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Rod's World

There are hundreds of images of freighters sinking on Google Images but its not the same as a fully rigged ship, the grand masters of the sea during our formative exploratory years entering the murky depths. This is like the statement above that was made at our last session of Raw, there are no limits. I googled it and it seems its an original so kudos to the member who came up with it.http://changemakersfestival.org/event/raw-there-are-no-limits/.

It was prominent during the night and has stuck in my mind ever since, how many times am I guilty of this seemingly foolish practice. If I did not do this ever I would have lived a life full of wonder with no hiccups. But there are many masters modern and ancient who point to the fact that this sort of life leaves you short of a life well lived. If we are always sailing on a flat ocean with no storms how do we know if we have risked our all.

Helen Keller reminds us that “Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing ” Do we remember those days in our lives where we just got up went to work for 10 hours, came home and fell asleep or do we remember those days we spent realising a new possibility that could transform our relationship to life.

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in everydirection, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than youever dreamed yourself to be.”
~ Patanjali – the author of Yoga Sutra

It helps to have a purpose in your live, as Patanjali, the author of Yoga Sutra intimates, the forces that will become available to you are immeasurable and what you will be able to achieve is unimaginable to your mind, it is more located in your heart. My purpose is the ethos of Interculturalism Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included https://www.facebook.com/groups/Interulturalism/ It took me 59 years of journeying through addictions, mental illnesses, Buddhism, meditation and banal Government jobs to get there but it was well worth the journey, I intend to transform the world with your help.

Zig Ziglar is considered one of the greatest American Success coaches and his quote ” People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well neither does bathing – That’s why we recommend it daily ” hits home as to what it takes. Get up, do stuff that has your purpose move forward, don’t expect it to magically happen, being in action is what it takes, the law of Attraction does not leave action out of the picture.

I couldn’t wish to be an astronaut as a child because they didn’t exist, I wanted to be a Ships captain because we used to go down to our Aunty Ruby’s farm outside Leopold and you could see the ships in Corio Bay, I’m not a Ship’s captain, the closest I became to a man of the trades was an apprentice French Polisher, the rest of the time I spent behind a desk. As I said I have found a purpose and I’m sure the child back in Pakenham when it wasn’t on the Metro line would be proud of me.

“I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.”
~ Roy Croft

Roy Croft is a little known poet who wrote a poem called Love which begins with the above line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Croft, I believe that this line applies to both friendships, self friendship and other friendship, heck you could probably replace friendship with love if you wished to. You will keep going back to the sinking ship if you do not have both of these in your life, the water will get awfully cold very quickly with out them.

“I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.”
~ Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is loved by millions of women worldwide for her earthy summation of day to day events and is a living example of the above statement. Willing to share it all she is also a disciple of Zig Ziglars statement “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” So if you do not wish to have to swim back to the Sinking ship take some of the advice that these modern and ancient thought leaders have to offer

Namaste until next time my friends

Fire In the Belly!!

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Rod's World

What do 105 men do at a weekend mens empowerment event for 3 and a half days. I went along after having attended a total of three mens empowerment circles with an attendance of 4 people at each. having created all the worst case scenario’s of woad wearing rituals and group screamings I enrolled because everything that frightened me about it were the reasons I should attend.

My friend from a previous retreat Michael also enrolled and we drove down together to Grantville Lodge http://uccamping.org.au/grantville-lodge/ to a magnificent view of Westernport Bay on the friday afternoon of the Cup long weekend. We found our sleeping places and settled in , Michael found out an old friend of his was in our cabin and I chatted to another of the participants who had had much more experience with men’s groups than I and his reassurances that it would cover all shades of grey helped me greatly.

We then had dinner and this was followed by the opening ceremony where an incredibly moving fire ceremony took place with the lighting of the event fire that would burn all weekend until the completion of the event. We then were split into our tribal groups, each named after a volcano, our’s was Corvo; http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/corvo-volcano.html , it seems this is in the Azores. I was with three of the presenters and a person who volunteered at Men events as a leader. Our group leader was a wild man who didn’t fancy wearing shoes. We had an hour to get to know each other so shared some of our stories at this first meeting.

They had announced the following days workshops at dinner and at 6.00 a.m. next day was Mandance and I am a dancer so I attended. The atmosphere was extraordinary with only male energy present and the presence of testerone was high, men have 4 times the testerone levels of women. I am frightened of barechested caveman like behaviour so this was confronting for me but as it went on I got to see it was all within the passion to dance as we were sacredly held through an ecstatic wave to reach a state of trance to gain inner peace.

Workshops during the day were to open the heart space through physical movement and groups that included quite a bit of role playing to allow this to happen. The first I attended was on a technique called Life Mechanics that allowed you to see where you spent time in the negative where it was just as easy to be positive.

followed by the life freeing talk on Procrastination and Distraction, Playing with our Power that had me see how easily I get distracted in life and what it costs me big time – http://www.davidnaylor.net.au/ . I finished the day with Non Voilent Communication a technique I had had a bit to do with several years ago, It all came back to me with the I statements taking responsibility and how you felt and making requests to resolve issues. http://www.nvcaustralia.com/index.php?action=trainer&id=68.

I forgot to mention that during this event I had a raging viral infection and slept through the Saturday night ceremony Heart Space. I asked my friend Michael on the drive home what it was like and he said it gave credibility to the statement from Avatar I See you and was one of the more special things he had been through.

Day two, I didn’t wake up until 6.40 so missed the 6.00 session and went to breakfast provided by the wonderful Sun Hyland and his team http://www.newearthcatering.com followed by a session on the dangers of porn by one of my Tribal group, it was confronting to see the role of it in our society, http://manenough.com.au/events/man-enough-november-workshop-2/ . There had also been drumming and juggling sessions during the day but my body was still not up to it. There was a session on the work of Byron Katie so I attended that, I love the work of Byron Katie and the four simple but empowering questions Is that true?, Can you absolutely know thats true, how do you feel when holding the story and Who would I be without this story can change your life if you stick to the script. http://www.thework.com/thework-4questions.php . The last workshop I did for the day was Financial Sabotage, an inquiry into how we sabotage ourselves and what would be possible if we stopped doing so .

We then moved to the cabaret, a celebration of men’s talent, lots of singer songwriters, comedians but the highlight was the interpretive dance by our 92 year old elder, he gave us a Ted talk of his wisdom at each break, if only we all could be so lithe at the age of 92. My friend Michael said to me this should end soon, its one o’clock. I didn’t believe him because it had been such great entertainment, but it was.

To the final day when we said goodbye to our Tribal group whom I had fallen deeply in Love and Respect with, we had an hour and a half to complete and team Corvo embraced each other and declared themselves inside a group hug, we were gifted a final breakthrough in this session by one team member it was humbling and empowering that we trusted each other that much in such a short time. We then had lunch and came to the closing ceremony where the group thanked the committee for organising it, the group leaders for being a stand for us all, Sun and his team for the great service and then a crazy hand slap to everybody chaos ruled but it was beautiful. About 20 inspired men stood forward to organise next years event including my friend Michael, i’m sure he will be great.

The main thing I got out of this event that it is OK to be a conscious man in 2014 in Melbourne Australia because there is plenty of other brothers out there and we will transform how men relate in society. Thank you Menergy 2014 http://www.menergy.org.au/wp/

Namaste until next time, my friends